The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and an acquired psychiatric disorder, including depression. The evidence is in equipoise as to whether these conditions are related to military service or secondary to a service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: Medical opinions provided by private audiologists and VA examiners support that the Veteran's current disabilities are at least as likely as not caused by noise exposure during service and/or his service-connected tinnitus, respectively.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, acquired psychiatric disorder (major depression)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2017
- Citation
- 1758426
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 1758426.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim, specifically needing an addendum opinion from a VA examiner. The Veteran will be asked to provide any missing records and former employers' information.
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